It is important that the integration process of the countries of the Western Balkans moves forward and the growing frustration in the region related to the accession process to the European Union must be prevented. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Juraj Blanár said this after Thursday’s meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the Slavic format (S3) with their Albanian departmental partner Ferit Hoxha in Tirana. The TASR special reporter informs about it.
- Juraj Blanár warns against the growing frustration of the Western Balkans with the accession process.
- Slovakia, as the chairing country of the S3, convened a meeting of ministers in Tirana.
- Blanár requests the acceleration of the entry of at least one or two Balkan countries.
- According to Blanár, Albania and Montenegro are the leaders of the integration process today.
- Slovakia and the S3 partners reject shortcuts in the accession process for Ukraine.
The main goal of the meeting was to confirm the common commitment of the S3 countries in the European integration of the Western Balkan states and to support their reform efforts. The visit was initiated by Slovakia as the presiding country of this format. Together with Blanár, his Czech ministerial colleague Petr Macinka and the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Beate Meinl-Reisingerová also arrived in Tirana.
“It is very important for us that the integration process of the countries of the Western Balkans finally moves forward,” stated Blanár, who recalled that some states from this region have been trying to integrate into the EU for 20 years. “That is why it is very important for us that maybe one or two countries get into the EU as soon as possible, in order to prevent the huge frustration that is starting to grow here in the Western Balkans, because people no longer believe that they will ever get into the EU.” emphasized the minister.
Blanár described Albania and Montenegro as the leaders of the integration process and reminded that Tirana managed to open all clusters in the past 13 months. In the accession process, according to the head of Slovak diplomacy, Albania should focus mainly on the rule of law, the fight against corruption and the judiciary.
At the same time, the minister declared at a meeting with his Albanian departmental partner that SR is against any easing of the rules in the access process. According to him, Slovakia will not agree to abbreviations for Eastern Partnership countries, e.g. for Ukraine. According to him, the remaining S3 members Austria and the Czech Republic hold a similar position. “This is simply unacceptable for us, and we have made that clear to our partners as well,” said Blanár.
